Rise of the Guardians 2: Untold Time
by HorseKid109
Summary: Jack Frost is now and forever more a Guardian of the children, but as the years went by Jack comes across some unexplained feelings that he's never felt before; a different type of loneliness. With him trying to discover what it means, new problems are arising for all the Guardians that might have an impact on the children and the world in terms of destruction. Jack Frost X OC
1. Chapter 1

The blistering, cold morning wind is starting to cut through the small town of Plainfields as the people were starting to rise out of their warm slumber with the dawn approaching. The children were still asleep in their cozy beds dreaming about all their favorite things. The adults that had to work early started to bundle up in warm clothes to keep themselves warm before walking out to warm up their vehicle. Within the hour, most of the adults were leaving for work and the children were awakened by their parent. They began to jump out of their bed to start another day to have fun with their friends or parents.

One particular Guardian is ready to start the New Year with some winter morning enjoyment, which he knows the children love. The children began to rush to their windows with their eyes still blinking, trying to wake up and see if the white, cold, fluffy snow is going to fall today. All the while the adults turned on their television to see what the weather is going to be like for the week, hoping it doesn't snow at all.

As the winter Guardian, known as Jack Frost, made his way through the town as fast as the wind could carry him, he began to summon snow in his wake. As he flew past the houses, he caught glimpses of children of all ages jumping up and down behind their window with smiles and laughter. Jack laughed out as he got his self-esteem up to create more snow. Once he made his rounds around the small town, he flew to a nearby park and waited for one of his favorite moments come along. He soon could hear the sound of small boots crunching the snow underneath in the distance and were making their way to the park where Jack is at. You could hear the grownups in the distance, telling their kids to put mittens on or to wrap a scarf round their necks. Other parents told their children to come home at a certain time or before breakfast. Soon the bobbing heads of the children, wrapped in warm clothes, started to make their way over the hill and into the park. Jack, who was balancing gracefully on the top of his staff jumped down and is ready for his daily fun routine.

As the children met with each other to find out what they could play, a snowball flew out of nowhere and hit one of the kids on the back, suddenly another one flew and hit another kid in the leg.

"Okay, who just threw that snowball?" the child that was hit first spoke with mischief glistening in his eyes as he bent down and gathered snow between his mittens.

He began to pack it tightly to make a snowball. He turned and hurled it at the closest kid next to him and in return was hit in the face by another child. Thanks to Jack, the children started to throw snowballs at each other, while they were laughing and giggling around the park. Jack moved in and started to create snowballs with the greatest of ease. He launched five of them, all making their marks perfectly. The children giggled some more as they threw more snowballs at each other. One of the children fell backwards on the ground and began to move their arms and legs to make a snow angel.

"I'll make one too!" said one of the children who was watching. She fell backwards on her back and created a snow angel. Soon all the kids were on their backs, creating snow angels, getting up and observing them. Jack watched with fascination as the blanket of snow he placed down earlier is turning into a work of art of snow angels. He called for the wind to take him to his next destination where he could create more fun and enjoyment for the kids.

As the night was covering Plainfields, the families were in their warm house either eating dinner, watching a movie, or doing many other things a family would do. The child's parents coming home from work would gather them up in their arms with a warm hug or kiss. As Jack worked his way through the town again he decided to find out what the families were doing. He peered inside a window and saw a family enjoy a board game together as shouts of "Yes!" and "No!" were making their way around the board. Jack chuckled to himself and decided to go to the next house. In this house there is a family of three children with their parents, nestled around the fireplace telling the children a bedtime story of the classical "Frosty the Snow Man." After his long enjoyment of watching families, he went back to the park where he and the children had their snowball fights. He stood on top of a statue that is shaped like a lion that is centered on a fountain and looked up at the full moon, which shone down on the town and made the snow glitter to life.

He started to think of the past, before he was a Guardian and all that he went through to try to get someone to notice him, especially the children. Then being encountered by the fully fledge Guardians and being told that he is the next Guardian to protect the children from Pitch Black, the creator of fears and nightmares. Also the discovering of his own past since he wasn't able to recall what occurred prior to becoming the Jack Frost he is today. So many thoughts crossed his mind as he gazed at the moon hard, as if he would be able to look through the moon and see the all the answers. Suddenly another thought crossed his mind.

"I know that I'm a Guardian now and my duty is to protect and give the children fun, but nothing much has changed since I've become one," his voice isn't regretful by all means, but inside he has still been lonely since only a handful of children have been able to see him.

He visits Jamie from time to time to catch up on what has been taking place over the years. Jack also plays with him and his friends that were able to see him. He loved bringing fun and happy times to the children through his winter enjoyment and to be able to interact with them made him happy in the very least. But he is missing something and he couldn't place his cold finger on it. He had the other Guardians by his side since he joined them in the battle against Pitch Black. Jack visits them when it's just to talk or for minor emergencies.

"So Man in the Moon, what is the next step to being a Guardian?" Jack demanded as he stood up tall and raised his arms up to his sides to make himself known, his staff in his hand still. The wind knowing his summoning came and led Jack into the air.

"If there is anything else to becoming a Guardian" he mumbled to himself as if Manny, Man in the Moon's other name, wouldn't hear him.

He just let the wind take him anywhere this time, since there is no point in going back home yet. Even though it is dark, it had still been early in the evening for the winter solace brought night time closer. Nine hours of daylight were the only downfall for the people on this side of the globe. They couldn't enjoy being outside long and made people tired faster, but at least some of the children come out and play at night when it's not so cold. As he was floating by the town and was getting into the urban country, he couldn't help but notice a house that is on a small hill that is surrounded by trees. It is almost completely obscured by the trees, but not all the way. He never noticed this house in the daylight, but something about it at night caught his attention. Maybe it is the lights that were still on that made the forest have some sort of life. Or maybe the small stream of smoke going into the night sky, creating a welcome home feeling. There is something there and he decided to see what it is.

As he was nearing the house, he couldn't help but glimpse of the surroundings below him. To people it would have been just another forest with its forest like themes, but there are other things. There were small streams flowing quietly , nightly creatures coming out to hunt or to stretch, and the snow under the trees glittered to life. Maybe the way the moon shone down on it is the key to its aura; it made it look like the forest was coming to life. As he was getting closer, he saw that the house isn't too big nor too small. It is made out of log wood and almost became one with the forest. It reminded him of the town he grew up in, everything back then was made of wood and other earthly materials, but in this day of age houses were built less of nature and more manufactured. Nothing like he used to live in.

He is well away from the house as he commenced to circle around it and take in the details, such as the way the log cabin was built, the chimney that was made of large stones, and how the light in the windows brought it to life. He noticed something odd outside the house that is near the peak of the roof. There is a small balcony on the top floor that is linked up to a room. On the balcony there is a person looking out towards the forest.

Jack began to move closer to the figure, until something in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned and saw the sky is brightened by the northern lights, with their colors of blues, greens, and yellows, and all in between.

"North," Jack proclaimed to himself. North must be calling the Guardians to come to his home. Jack turned back toward where the figure was standing and notice the person is gone. Must of went back inside, he thought as he was about to call to the wind to take him to North's.

"Wind, take me to North's place!" He called out aloud and the wind came and took him as fast as it could go.

"Jack, glad you could make it!" North's thundering voice, that is heavily thick with a Russian accent, called out as he walked to Jack and patted him heavily on his shoulder.

"So what's the emergency this time? Hopefully it's not to deal with the elves again," Jack said as he moved his shoulder around that North patted on or to say pounded on.

"No, the elves didn't let loose the Reindeer again, though that was quite a chase," North looked out toward his shop with Jack watching next to him, peering down at the elves that were still hurting themselves on accident in the foolishness of ways. Good thing the children don't know about this, they would be quite shocked.

"Yeah, it took two days to find them all and the one I chased after didn't like me one bit," Jack said half heartily as he turned around and walked towards the fireplace that had an old picture above it that is of North and the Yetis.

"So, what did you call me for?" Jack asked with a slight irritation in his voice. It wasn't a big emergency from the way North is acting. Jack knew that he didn't have anything going on tonight that was important, but he didn't like being called without a reason either.

"I just wanted to catch up with what you've been doing is all, I know Christmas was only a week ago and the others are busier than I am at the current moment, so I thought I would inquire about how your years of being a Guardian has been," North's humble voice was that of a welcoming gesture as he sat down near a large table and ran his hands over the table to signal Jack to come sit.

Jack shrugged his shoulders like that of a teenager. Slightly irritated to be invited to talk about his Guardianship like it was a child's school day.

"Well, now that it has been five years since I've been a Guardian protecting the children, nothing much has happened since I became one," Jack said as he sat down and rested his staff across his lap. Jack is staring down at it in deep thought, he couldn't help but think back to when he was at the fountain in Plainsfield, looking up at the moon and questioning his purpose once again. Jack was feeling that nothing much as change in terms of being seen and believed in like the other Guardians.

"Something is troubling you though, is it the children not being able to see you still?" North questioned as he leaned across the table to look at Jack closely and to let Jack know that he receives his full attention.

"Well, you could say that," Jack looked up at him and North noticed something in Jacks' eyes that still have been there since Jack looked at him when he came into his shop.

"But there is something more than just the children, you were able to make some believe in you, which I've known you have been fighting for that since you've became Jack Frost," North sat up straight and stood from his chair as he walked nonchalantly to the fireplace and stood in front of the warm heat that came from it. Jack watched his movements with his eyes and wondering what he was thinking. Maybe North, since he's been the longest living Guardian, might know of his feelings that even he can't solve.

"You know," North turned and looked at him with a soft expression that conveyed a small grin, "it can be troubling being a Guardian. There will be times when you will be down for reasons you can't explain, and then the next thing you know you'll be up and happy again as if it never happened." North's movements as he walked towards Jack and explaining to him his reasoning's was very flamboyant, since he loved to express himself with body languages during his speeches.

"Believe me North, I know very well how that feels, but lately it seems to be something else I can't explain, a different type of… loneliness," Jack started to stand up from his seat with his face toward the ground, until he heard the heavy footsteps of North start to approach him quickly. Jack looked up with enough time to sit up straight that resulted in falling back and hitting his back against the back seat of the chair hard. North had both his hands on Jacks shoulders and is looking at him with a very surprise looked, as if Jack mentioned that his house were ablaze.

"A different type of loneliness how?" North said with his face only a foot away from Jack's face, Jack was becoming very uncomfortable being approached like that. He swiftly moved under his arms and out of his grasp without too much force and started walking backwards away from him.

"I don't know, it's just there are times when I go back home and see that there is really nothing there for me to come back to," Jack's awkward tone gave North an idea of what Jack was saying, it's just that Jack doesn't really understand this feeling yet, since Jack Frost was a young boy when he became a Guardian, it only made since after three hundred years of being alone. First Jack needed someone to believe in him, and now that this is slowly happening Jack is now recognizing new feelings he's never experienced. Maybe his interaction with others is bringing this out.

"Well my boy, that is something there, the only advice I can give to you is to go out and explore the world, but really look into the daily lives of the people, and not just children," North explained as he walked past Jack and towards the workshop where the Yetis were working.

"Explore the world? You believe that after three hundred years of roaming around and seeing peoples lives that I need to continue doing the same thing?" Jack is perplexed by North's advice. Seriously, he thought, I already know everything about the universe! Right?

"That may be true, but apparently there is something else out there that you have yet to discover for yourself." Jack started to follow him, but changed his mind since he was getting tired of the conversation.

"Well then if you'll excuse me, I'm going to explore the world for the next hundred years and possibly figure out what you mean," he finished sarcastically as he flew out the window where the moon normally shone into North's home and onto the magical device on the floor where the Man in the Moon made his calling. North walked towards the window that Jack flew out with a deep expression before calling out.

"Don't forget to protect the kids while you're searching!" He yelled aloud, he was pretty sure Jack was long gone now.

As Jack flew out into the night with bursts of energy, he was beginning to relax as he entered another town that he knew all too well. There had to be answers somewhere, but he is wondering if this feeling he had is just a phase he is going through. It couldn't be that bad, but he had to know. He slowly made his way to a familiar house that is lived in by a familiar person; the first person to actually see him and believe in him

"Maybe Jamie knows something."


	2. Chapter 2

Jack landed gracefully on the top of Jamie Bennett's house and took a good look of the small town from the view he was at. Nothing much has changed in the town since he first visited the town; there were some changes in the homes and the families that lived in them. People move from time to time and new buildings and homes were built during the summer, so he notices them when he returns during the winter season. He flew along the side of Jamie's house, which was completely dark and showed no sign of life due to it being late at night, slowly to the window where Jamie's room is and looked inside; it was dark inside except for the small night light dimly shining in the corner of the room. Jamie rearranges his room from time to time and noticed the slight changes as he tries to spot where Jamie could be. He peered down to where the window latch would be and noticed it was unlatched. He wondered if Jamie did that on purpose since during this season he expects Jack to show up. He pushed the window open and stepped inside quietly while shutting the window behind him. He looked at Jamie's bed first to see if he was sleeping and saw that his bed was neatly made and not disturbed.

Well, I wonder where he is, Jack thought as he looked at his old alarm clock on his night stand next to his bed. It was 2:37 AM and that didn't seem normal for most people to be up that late, especially Jamie. His next assumption was that he was spending the night at a friend's or relative's house. He wasn't up for hunting Jamie's whereabouts throughout the night, so he decided to walk back to the window and with his finger he traced along the window glass and left a design made of frost. It was sure to stay there until Jamie came back home and to let him know he was there to see him. Jack continued out the window and flew throughout the night spreading his winter magic as he started to plan on how to look into the daily lives of people while still having fun and guarding the children from any danger.

A few days have passed and Jack was occasionally people watching as he spreads his winter fun around. From time to time he would play with the children in the park or in the backyard of someone's house. He didn't discover too many ideas from his observations and took notes in his mind of the differences and similarities of the different age groups. Children, from what he observes every day and throughout most of his life, cared about having fun, hanging with friends, and not fret too much about school work, because it's boring. Teenagers were mainly caught up in their studies for school, hung out with friends in places that children normally couldn't go to without an adult around, and be concerned about their love life. The girls would mostly talk about fashion of clothes and products, have sleepovers, and talk about boys in terms of love interests. Boys would talk about hangout spots to play games and other activities, hunting and fishing, and also talk about girls from time to time. Adults were a whole new meaning to different that he really didn't care for. They were ALWAYS serious about things that they shouldn't be serious about, they would argue with their significant other about bills and boring stuff, and they diffidently didn't know the word "Fun" when it came to doing activities. Jack was starting to get bored with the people watching for the day, since it didn't seem to click to anything he was looking for. What did this have to do with his loneliness? What was he missing? Many questions started to boil up until a different thought crossed his mind.

Speaking of teens, Jack thought, I wonder if Jamie is home yet. He flew to the top of a flag pole that was next to a school building, using his staff he tapped the pole underneath and it started to freeze along with the flag that's now stiff in its fluttering position. He looked down and noticed two young teenagers; a boy and a girl. They were casually walking down the side walk, very close to each other and were holding hands; they were talking about going to the park to ice skate. Jack looked down at his hands and studied them for a while. If I was to hold someone's hands it would probably freeze right up and not move, he thought. Jack then started to have the feeling bubble up again inside, that feeling of loneliness. He wanted someone to talk to him, play with him, and just have someone to hang with. He knew that the children could provide him with these fulfillments, but something was missing out of it all. He heard a small giggling girl behind him from below, but further out in the distance. He turned carefully on the pole and noticed a small yellow house next to where he was and there was a small girl playing with her dad in the snow out in their front yard. The dad was making a small snow ball and threw it at his daughter, but was purposely missing her. The small girl was probably around five years old and wasn't quite able to make a good snowball yet. She would throw it at him and the snowball would fall into a puff of snowflakes. Jack smiled warmly at them. Well, not all adults are boring, Jack thought as he called the wind to take him to Jamie's home.

"What do you mean you can't find him?" a voice echoed in the large factory of North's.

"Like I just said, I went to contact him using the device he has asked us to use, but it doesn't work. So I went out to see if he was at his home, he wasn't there," said North. He was pacing in front of the fire place, pondering all possibilities of how they were going to find him. He turned towards a large grey rabbit, known as Bunnymund, who was looking at him with a confused expression and was also trying to ponder his whereabouts.

"Well that's not good mate, and you also said that when you got there, things were a bit off, what do you mean by that?" Bunnymund questioned North as he walked towards the fireplace to get warm, he just arrived not that long ago and his long feet were still freezing. Bunnymund also had many things to worry about besides this new trouble, like how Easter was coming up in a few months and he was falling a bit behind getting the eggs ready.

"It was like his home has been abandon for ages, but all the clocks in all the rooms are still working and the main globe of the world is still running and shining brightly. Only he would have the power to stop the clocks with his magic," North turned towards the large globe that was on a platform to support its large form. It was a globe of the world that was bright with small lights that marked the places of the children who believe in the Guardians.

"And we all know he would never do that, it would throw the world into chaos," North explained.

"Once again you called me out here for that?" Bunnymund hopped over to him while pulling out an unfinished egg that still needed painting. "Oh and let me guess…," he started in, but North finished it

"I feel it in my belly, yes, and it has never been wrong," North grabbed the egg out of Bunnymunds' hand and looked over it with more thought then it needed; clearly he was thinking of something else.

"Hey now give it –," Bunnymund started to say as he went after North who was making his way to the device Manny contacts the Guardians on. But then they heard something fluttering in the distance that sounded distinctly familiar to them both.

"So what's going on?" the large, colorful fairy who was vibrate of greens, blues, and yellow feathers entered the room quickly with her wings fluttering amazingly fast behind her. Other fairies like herself was next to her, but were the size of a small bird, much like the hummingbird that they all represented.

"Father Time's went bloody missing, Tooth," Bunnymund turned towards her and her face downfallen and turned to North, confused as Bunnymund was a few minutes ago.

"What happened?" Tooth asked as she flew quickly to North. North turned towards her and explained what he had explained to Bunnymund. When he was finished, Tooth was now pondering the possibilities of where he could be.

"Well, maybe he went somewhere in the world that needed help with something," Tooth proclaimed when she thought of a possibility.

"Time _never_ leaves his tower for any reason, clearly if something was going on, Manny would contact us first," Bunnymund stated as he started to continue where he left off on his egg.

"I want to wait for Sandy to get here so we can come up with a plan, I also need to get ahold of Jack Frost too, even though he hasn't been a Guardian long, he can still help us figure out where Father Time went," North proclaimed as he went to the globe and grabbed the handle to a device that was attached to a table. He twisted the handle and pressed down.

"Now it's just a matter of time."

It was in the evening in the town of Burgress as Jack had just rounded up his last winter fun in the small town for the day. He wanted to enjoy his travels to Burgress by creating winter and playing with children here and there. He knew that Jamie had to have gotten his message by now and might be home during this time of day. He hasn't seen him much this winter and he knows now that Jamie is a teenager and is probably busy with school and doesn't have that much time to play. Jack felt a little sad inside to know that maybe one day, Jamie will forget Jack altogether. But for the meantime, it's too early to be saying that. He started to see Jamie's home from the sky and flew in slowly towards his window for a second attempt. He looked inside and didn't notice anything different from a few nights ago. Where on earth is Jamie? Jack couldn't believe his second attempt of visiting him was again a complete failure.

_THUMP!_

Jack felt something hit his back and knew all too well that it was a hard snowball. Jack had his sideways grinned expression on his face when he turned and looked down. A boy, almost the size of Jack, was below him. The boy smiled up at him and waved hello quite frantically with excitement. Jack took note of how much he has changed and still couldn't believe that someone of his age still believes in him after these short years. Jamie was a lot taller and bigger then he was 5 years ago, his hair was trimmed neatly, his style of clothes is more formal but still on the casual side, and his voice is deeper and teenage like. Jack started thinking back to his time as a human, until Jamie called out.

"Jack!" Jamie called out with complete recognition and joyfulness. Jack flew down to the ground and was preparing a snowball in his hand that was behind his back. He wanted to get him back for surprising him like that.

"Hey kiddo, I've been waiting for you forever," Jack said as he slowly approached the boy who was not aware of what Jack was doing with his hand behind his back.

"Sorry, I was over at a relative's house during Christmas and New Year's, our flight was delayed because of a blizzard and it took a while, and that was no thanks to you," Jamie gave him an accusing gesture as he told his story, but was more heartily joking about the situation then what he was expressing.

"Oops, sorry about that, well, I am Jack Frost after all and blizzards are my game!" Jack was walking around the boy while twirling his staff as he spoke and when Jamie wasn't looking, Jack threw his snowball at his head. Jamie felt the hit and then something stirred inside him that he hasn't felt since last year during this time and got the extra boost of energy and the sudden urge to play. Jamie bent down and gathered a quick pile of snow in his hands and ran a few feet away from Jack.

"You're going to regret that!" Jamie threw the snowball at Jack, who gracefully dodged it.

"Nice shot, but you're going to have to try harder than that!" Jack used his staff as he ran and aimed it at the ground, conjuring quite a few snowballs that were ready to be thrown. They continued to play for a while until Jamie grew tired. Jamie fell onto his back and into the soft, cold snow and started laughing.

"Boy it's been awhile since I've done that," Jamie breathed out, trying to catch his breath. Jack loomed over him on top of his staff and smiled at him.

"Well that just tells me you're out of practice," Jack said. Jamie sat up and peered up at him with a thoughtful look.

"Well, most of my friends from a few years back left with their families to live in another town or state, I only play with my little sister and her friends now. Many kids my age are too busy to play much anymore," Jamie's expression was deep with thought as he thought of the years since after he discovered that Jack Frost was real, along with the other Guardians. It's sad how such a short amount of time from when he was a kid of 8 years old to now, a 13 year old teen, who was now grounded into new responsibilities, such as school, grades, and homework. Now that Christmas vacation is done, he has to focus more now on studies and doesn't have time to play.

"Yeah I've noticed that since I've returned, but I guess that is just how life goes sometimes, actually Jamie, I came here not only to visit, but to ask a few questions about that so called life," Jamie looked at him more confused than he did a few minutes ago. "So called life?" What did Jack mean by that? Surely with the time that Jack has been around in the last three hundred years, he should have the world known under his belt, so Jamie thought.

"I guess I can try to help, but I'm not saying I'll know the answers right away," Jamie stood up and dusted the snow off his pants and coat and motioned Jack to enter his house. There was no one home at the moment since Jamie's mom and dad went out to get food due to the refrigerator having to be empty before they left. Sophie went with them as well. Jamie climbed up the stairs and made for his room and opened the door, Jack came in behind him and shut the door.

"So what kind of questions do you have for me?" Jamie took off his coat and placed it on the chair that was next to his studying desk and walked over to his bed and sat on it, looking at Jack as he once again was on top of his staff with complete balancing skills.

"Well, I'm not sure where to start, but you know that since before I have met you, that I had no believers and was technically alone, besides the other Guardians cause it's just not the same. After the last few years of being a Guardian I've noticed that even though I have more believers then I did before, something is missing in my own life," since Jack started talking, he never noticed that he immediately hopped down from his staff and started pacing the room. Jamie could tell he was worked up about it inside and must have had this pondering thought for a while and needed it off his chest.

"What do you think it is?" Jamie asked as he looked into Jacks' eyes, he had a feeling that Jack might not know and was here to see if he could figure it out with Jamie's help.

"I don't know for sure, but there are times when I'm alone in my own solitude, that I wish I had someone next to me, to talk to me and be with me more often. I mean, I know I have the children to play with and I sometimes visit the other Guardians, but it's not the same somehow. I think about friendships that I've made and I'm happy to have them, but there is something else that is missing," Jack was walking towards the window while looking out, seeing if the moon was out. But something caught his eye that was all too familiar and it annoyed him greatly at that moment.

"North," Jack breathed out in a sigh as he shook his head slowly in dismay. Jamie, who was confused as to why he said "North", walked to where Jack was and looked out the window to see what he was seeing.

"The northern lights," Jamie stated as he looked at the sky that was colored with blues, greens, and reds. He looked back to Jack and gave him a questioning look.

"It is, but that is North's way of telling me and/or the other Guardians to come to his place for a chat or serious business," Jack could only think that it's North telling him to come see him and tell him if he has found out anything yet about his findings.

"And it better be for business," Jack finished.

"Are you leaving then?" Jamie's voice was hinted with disappointment since he just got to see Jack and that he wasn't able to answer his question yet.

"I better, if I don't they'll send Sandy after me and make sure I come to whatever it is they have going on," Jack opened up the window and was ready to fly out until Jamie grabbed the sleeves of his hoodie lightly. Jack turned with a questioning look.

"About the question, I'm not sure what it is you are feeling, but if I had to guess and from experience from my own life and observations, you are waiting for that someone to be with you and you haven't found that person yet," Jamie smiled up at Jack to give him reassurance that not all hope is loss of his answers.

"It's something like my mom once told me, you'll know who it is the moment you lay eyes on them." Jack stopped what he was doing and was thinking about what he just said, that last bit of information gave him more comfort and he smiled warmly.

"Thanks Jamie, I'll owe you next time with a snowball battle with your friends!" Jack flew out of the window and heard Jamie yell out good-bye and to tell the Guardians "Hi". Jack got his burst of energy and told the wind to take him to North's place once again. I wonder what North wants this time, Jack thought.


	3. Chapter 3

The wind carried Jack to the North Pole and he knew it would take a short time before he got there. He wished he were able to enjoy his time at the places he was passing, since he hasn't visited those towns and cities yet, but it would have to wait. Guess I'll have to backtrack after finding out what North wants, Jack thought. As he made his way he saw a familiar sight floating in the air and spreading strings of gold everywhere. Jack smiled at the sight and said casually, "Sandy."

Sandy is on top of his floating golden sand in the shape of a cloud, sending out dream sand to all the children in the current town he is working on. His sand transformed into many shapes and objects, like animals, fantasy like creature, or anything else that children would enjoy dreaming of. Children were safe from the nightmares of Pitch when Sandy is around and would continue to stay that way, at least Jack hoped. When Jack was approaching Sandy, Sandy turned towards him and waved hello as a symbol of a smiley face appeared in gold sand formed above his head.

"Hello to you to Sandman, you know North called us right?" Jack asked since Sandy didn't seem to be in a rush to get to North's Pole. Sandy nodded yes and began to conjure his golden sand to make an airplane and Jack watched with fascination. Sandy didn't have to be around for his remaining dream sand to finish the town. I wonder if I could make something like that with snow, Jack thought as he flew beside Sandy as they made their way to the Pole.

The night air is cold and fierce as Jack was approaching the Pole to where North and the other Guardians waited. Jack didn't know what was going on this time since it wasn't just Jack that North was calling too. He hopes it isn't another party either since they had a party at North's Pole for Christmas and then had another one for New Years. They started doing parties a few years after Jacks' Guardianship became official and thought it would give them the chance to be together without worries. The wind carried him to the window where he flew out the last time he visited North and Sandy followed behind as he disperse his sand and floated down to the ground where everyone was waiting.

"About time you guys arrived, we have serious news," North proclaimed as he made his way to them along with Bunnymund and Tooth following behind. Sandy looked at him concerned as a question mark formed above his head.

"What's wrong?" Jack was starting to become concerned, until Bunnymund came forward and spoke.

"It's nothing too serious, but North here, according to his belly, thinks it is serious," Bunnymund seemed agitated to be there and no one could blame him. There was no serious attack from an outside force and no one really knew what was going on yet. Plus Easter was approaching every minute.

"Should have known," Jack shook his head as he walked over to one of the tables and sat on it, looking at North for an explanation as to what is going on.

"It's about Father Time, he went missing from his tower," North looked at each Guardian as he explained. "I've known Father Time for a long time, almost as long as we've began our Guardianship, and I went to go see him and he was not home."

"Everyone leaves their home at some point, North, why is that a big deal?" Jack asked. He didn't understand why North was making a big deal of Father Time's whereabouts.

"The thing about Father Time, he _never_ leaves his tower," North's face became more serious to make his point across. "You see, Father Time as everyone knows, controls time, but not just time. He also controls the time of life and death. We all know that life and death is an everyday thing and can't be controlled, except Father Time," the other Guardians were looking at him more seriously than before and Jack was very interested in this particular information of Father Time. He hasn't heard much about Father Time from the Guardians and once in a while a person will mention Father Time in terms of sayings like, "Well, Father Time is not on my side today." Jack would always laugh when he heard things like that or anything to do with the other Guardians.

"His tower holds all the information of the world in terms of time of all living things and he is continuously busy to make sure that time flows correctly. Cause if something where to happen with the time flow in a certain section of the world, chaos will happen. Life would start to end and death could be worse than before," North finished his introduction of Father Time's ability and duties as he walked over to the globe and looked at all the little bright lights that continue to shiny brilliantly.

"So, what you are saying is that Father needs to be at the tower to make sure time flow won't get neglected?" Tooth asked as she flew to North's side, she looked at him urgently as she understood more about why this is a serious matter.

"For the most part, yes, if he does leave it would have to be a very short time, but I waited for him at his tower for a few hours and that's not normal for him," North turned to Tooth and then to the others.

"I want to warn all of you in advance, since you all live in different parts of the world, that if you see something suspicious in terms of the life in the world or even death, to contact me immediately. Manny should let us know if something serious is about to ensue, but we must be more prepared then we were last time against Pitch."

"What about Father?" Bunnymund asked, "Should we go to his tower and see if he's there yet?"

"I will check on him in a few days, believe it or not, getting to his tower is very difficult since it's well guarded against any forces," North walked over to the window and looked at the bright moon that shone amazingly. "I also left him a note to contact me when he could, but it's rare to get anything from him."

This is going to be harder than I thought, Jack thought as he went through the information that North explained. So far, he isn't going to worry too much about it, because nothing has happened yet to the world and its life forms that he has observed. He looked at the other Guardians and saw how serious this could be, except Bunnymund, who has been painting his eggs since North explained.

"You are all dismissed and be on the look-out everyone," North concluded the meeting and everyone went their separate ways, except Jack.

"North," Jack called out to North when everyone left, "I have a question about the life forms on earth." North turned to Jack and gave him a questioning look, but nodded for him to continue.

"If Father Time controls time, how does he control life and death on earth?" Jack was wondering about this information, he has never heard that part about Father Time before.

"You see, Father Time as two weapons you could say, but they are more for his ability to control time on earth for every living creature." North could see that Jack was serious about this question.

""Hourglass of Time" and the "Scythe of Death", in this case Life and Death. One controls the beginning of life while the other controls the ending of life." Jack nodded as he understood more about these "weapons".

"It's essential that he stays in the tower where he is protected from any evil outside forces and not just because of the time flow, but also because of the items he carries with him at all times," North turned from Jack and walked towards his room. "That's all I'll tell you for now, at least until we know everything is okay, good-night Jack," North took one good look at Jack and politely bowed his farewell as he shut the door behind him. Jack stared long and hard at the door, he knew there had to be more about what is going on and Jack knew North was keeping something hidden from everyone. He figured he didn't want to have the Guardians too worried if nothing serious has happened yet. Jack walked towards the window where Manny shone brightly and called to it.

"You'll let North know, right Manny?" Jack got the typical response from Manny; nothing. Jack flew out the window and continued his backtracking to create winter magic for towns that haven't received it yet.

It was still in the middle of the night when Jack finished up the towns, a few snow days for some children here and a small blizzard in another town that needed snow for sure. As he was making his way through the towns he was thinking back about what Jamie said before Jake left to the North Pole. That special someone, Jack thought as he looked down towards a town. It was mainly dark except the lights that came on at night and a few cars driving. He knew something was missing and knowing it was a person would make all the more sense to him, but since North's conversation about the subject Jack started to put the pieces together. Maybe in the afternoon when more people are about on the streets I can watch and see if something clicks. Now that he was thinking of people in mind, he wanted to see how people interacted with each other more and personal.

The afternoon came quick for Jack as he was keeping himself busy by playing with children and creating winter. This time he took a different approach then how he was doing it before. He decided to walk down the streets instead of flying or viewing from up high. And instead of being with children, he was around teenagers and adults. He saw a mixed group of a guy and a few girls talking in front of a café shop that looked like an interesting group.

"So what do you guys want to do?" A teenage girl with long blonde hair asked the group in front of her.

"Well, I would say we could go to the park, but it's really cold outside Gina," a boy with short messy sandy blonde hair spoke as he was huddling more into his winter coat.

"The café shop is right behind us Travis, we could get a bite to eat and decided where to go," Gina suggested as she pointed to the café shop.

"That sounds great right now, I haven't slept much since our family's vacation and I could go for some coffee," another girl with red hair said as she headed inside.

"Sally, you never sleep," Travis said jokingly and the group laughed out loud. Jack smiled at their conversation with random jokes here and there.

Jack followed them inside and was getting impatient. He wasn't used to just standing around or sitting for long and most teenagers did exactly that. The group ordered their drinks and sat down in a booth near the window. They were talking about where they wanted to go, until someone's phone rang.

"Oops, sorry guys I got to take this," the last girl in the group with brown hair spoke as she rose from her seat and started to walk away until Gina called out.

"Your boyfriend again?" she gave her a suggestive smirk and then winked. The brown haired girl blushed and continued her way to a quieter place. Jack followed her since it grabbed his attention the most and wanted to know who she was talking to. He also noticed that teenagers we very interested the girls' relationship and wanted to see how this plays out.

"Hey Allen, its Christy," she whispered into her phone. Jack couldn't hear what Allen was saying back to her, but he still listened in. I feel like I'm stalking, Jack thought as he smirked to himself, of course it seems like I've done that since I've became Jack Frost.

"You want to meet me at the park? Oh, you have something for me?!" Christy was getting excited and was moving anxiously back and forth to contain her excitement.

"Alright, I'll see you there!" She hung up her phone and walked to the table her friends were seated at.

"Hey guys-,"she started to say, but Gina started in.

"Let us guess!" She started to say with the same smirk on her face and turned to her friends seated and saw they had the same expression.

"Allen," Travis said with complete confidence that that was the answer. Christy smile with a blush that gave them the correct answer.

"Go see him Christy, we can do something together later," Christy looked at them worriedly, until Sally got up, grabbed her shoulders, spun her around, and walked her to the exit.

"Come on Christy, you can do it!" Once Christy was outside she said her thanks and waved good-bye to them. Jack thought that the group was a nice group of friends, completely trust in each other and with care. He started to follow her as she jogged on the sidewalk to where the park is at. It didn't take long before they were at a large park. Christy started to walk around the park, until she spotted a familiar person leaning against a tree. That must be Allen, thought Jack. He was teenage boy with very dark brown hair with glasses; he looked like your typical teenager in his casual winter coat and baggy jeans.

"Hey Allen," Christy called out as she ran to him, she was obviously happy to see him. When she started to come closer Allen opened up his arms and accepted her embrace lovingly. Jack watched this interaction unfold, the embrace didn't last long and when they both looked at each other, Jack noticed something that he hasn't seen in a while. Longing and love? It was something he saw from time to time, but not up close and not with complete attention. Jack saw Allen turn his head and gave Christy a long and warm kiss has Allen's arms embrace Christy's form tightly. Jack couldn't help but blush as the scene, he diffidently felt like he was intruding on their moment. He stayed until Christy got her gift from Allen, which happened to be a necklace and she was thrilled with it.

Jack was starting to understand the interactions of friends and relationships a little more now and he diffidently felt his heart jolt with happiness and also sadness when he realized how much they had and how little Jack had of it. While he watched others enjoy their interacting with others, he could only interact with the Guardians and children. No one of my age, or could you even say age, I mean, I'm only 300 years old, he thought sarcastically. He was missing that interaction with someone besides children; he needed that special someone to make him realize this feeling more. Now Jack understood what Jamie meant. As he concluded his findings, he decided to put his thoughts to rest and continue his duties as Jack Frost. He was hanging out with this particular group for a few hours and needed to get back to his snowball games and winter fun. I also need to keep a look out for any weird activity on the earth since North is worried about it so much, Jack concluded.

Jack was enjoying himself as the evening approached and he came across a familiar town that he seemed fond of; Plainfields. He remembered playing with the children one morning and then when night came he saw a really neat log cabin in the woods that looked mysterious since there were no homes around it; completely secluded. He suddenly remembered seeing a person on the top balcony that night that caught his interests. She too, had a mysterious aura about her. Maybe I'll go check that place out again, I haven't had a new believer in a while, maybe I can convince this child, Jack thought as his trademark side-ways grin appeared on his face. He flew over the town and looked out into the country where it was mostly covered in wintery woods. He saw a familiar sight in front of him that told him that that is the house; the small lights gleaming through the forest, but high enough that you could see the top of the house, and the small grey smoke traveling up into the frosty night. It was a pretty sight to behold as the moon shone on it.

He started to circle around it again and take in the view. He flew down to the ground and decided he wanted to walk around it to get a better look. It was a two story log cabin that was not to fancy and not too dull, it seemed prefect to him. If there was a home I wanted, it would be this one, Jack thought. He saw movement by the window and he flew up to see what it was. As he peered inside he saw an older woman in her 40s walking to a table that was in the dining room. Jack was amazed by how bad the house was inside; cluster of messes from clothes to boxes were scattered around the dining room and beyond. Even though the house was decorated, they have been there for a while, so it wasn't like they moved in recently. He saw the woman sit down and grabbed bottle of some liquor and poured herself a drink in a small shot glass. From what Jack can see, the woman looked horrible and possibly very drunk. Her face is sunken, eyes were blood shot, and she is slouched over the chair sluggishly. Well, that ruined my image of the house inside, Jack thought as he flew down to the ground and walked around the house some more.

He made his way to the back of the house when he noticed movement way above him. He looked up and noticed a familiar balcony and also a familiar figure. He flew up to the top and landed on top of the roof to look down on the figure. He saw a girl walking along the balcony, her choppy shoulder length blonde hair blowing in the cold wind. Jack flew down a little closer and noticed more features about her and he couldn't help but feel his heart stop at the sight of her. She is wearing a small, purple night gown that covers her arms and goes down to her knees. Her body was very thin and almost looked frail; pale skin and had a slightly sunken face. But over all her appearance, eyes, and the way her hair framed her face is beautiful. With the moon out and facing in her direction, she glowed radiantly and Jack looked at her in admiration.

Jack realized that this girl is not a child; she is older than that. Jack watched as she made her way to the railing of the balcony and looked out into the distance and stared at the moon. Jack continued to watch her as he couldn't get his eyes off her, until he saw her put both her hands on the railing and heaved herself up to stand on the railing. Jack was startled by this and didn't know what she is doing. The railing is very thick and wide that can hold a person with both their feet planted on it firmly. Jack flew in slowly and got closer to observe what she is doing. Though Jack is behind her a few feet away, he couldn't see her looking down at the ground and then back up to the moon.

"I'm tired of this," the girl spoke in a breath of a whisper, Jack only heard a mumble.

"You might want to get down or you'll fall," Jack said casually and he flew in closer, he knew she couldn't hear him.

The thing is is that she did hear him. She whipped her body around fast as if she was caught from what she about to do. Jack was severely startled since he couldn't believe what he just witness. Did she actually hear me, Jack thought. But before either of them could react to each other, the girl's right foot slipped on the frost that formed on the railing and lost her balance and began to fall backwards towards the ground below…


	4. Chapter 4

Jack watched her in horror, as if she was in slow motion, when she slipped from the railing and started to fall towards the ground. Jack was quick to summon the wind to catch the girl before she struck the ground. As Jack wrapped his arms underneath her back and underneath her legs he noticed that she was not conscious, she appeared to have passed out. Jack landed softly on the ground as he looked at her, in sort of a trance as he looked at her face closely.

"She's beautiful," Jack proclaimed to himself, but he stopped short from another moments thought as he blushed to himself for saying that. That was very blunt, Jack thought. He looked towards the house and didn't hear much noise from inside. They didn't seem to make a lot of noise during the fall, since she didn't scream and Jack was skillful good at being silent when he need to be. Jack looked back up towards the balcony to where she had fallen from. He felt the girl in his arms begin to shiver from the cold from all around her, including Jack.

"Oops, I better take you back up to your room before you catch a cold,"he said to her even though she couldn't hear him. He flew to the balcony and landed gracefully on the floor and saw the door to her room. He opened the door and entered inside and surprised to see the condition of her room. It was as much as a mess as when Jack peered through the dining room window and saw the house a disaster. Boxes were scattered everywhere with some of its containments littered on the floor. The only area that was remotely clean was around her bed. Jack carefully tip toed through the mess and made it to her bed without tripping on anything. He laid the girl down on the bed and pulled the comforter over her. Jack had a sudden memory of how he brought Sofie back to her house and poorly putting her on her bed only for her to fall off. He laughed to himself when he thought about it. He couldn't believe that she's not the same little girl that she used to be, time flew to fast for Jack.

He took note of the night stand by her bed and how it was almost flooded with bottles and a few water bottles. From the look of the bottles, they were medicine type bottles. She must be really sick to have that many, Jack thought with a sad frown appearing on his face. That would explain why she looks so pale and thin, I wonder what's wrong with her, he thought. There were a few books that were on the night stand as well. Jack picked one up that read "Every Living Thing" that looked like it was about a man and animals based on the cover he saw. The next book reads "Christmas Myths from Around the World", Jack smiled brightly as he never expected to find someone her age reading stuff like that. The next book surprised him the most and almost made him jump for joy, "The Story of Jack Frost." He was curious about what this book had about him since he has seen very few books about _him. As_ he flipped through the pages without reading its contents, his mind started to wander to what happened on the balcony. Had she really seen him, Jack thought. She did look startled when she whipped around towards his direction.

Footsteps could be heard outside the girl's door getting closer until the door to her room opened quietly. Jack saw the same women before appear through the door and looked over to the girl in her bed. The woman smiled a small, sad smile as she made her way over the girl.

"Arielle, sweety," the women called to her as she approached her. Arielle didn't respond or move. The women shook her gently to wake her up and got a small response as Arielle opened her eyes and looked at her.

"Mom?" Arielle questioned weakly with a small frown on her face.

"It's time to take your medicine," her mom stated as she prepared the bottles that were on her night stand. Jack watched as the two interacted and saw Arielle slowly start to sit up with the same frown on her face. She looked confused as well.

"Here, take these pills and take them _all_," her mom said, the last word as a threat than a statement. Arielle rolled her eyes as she took the pills from her mother's hand and plopped them in her mouth. She grabbed a water bottle that was on her night stand and took a big swig and swallowed distastefully.

"You look pale, are you feeling alright?" her mom loomed over Arielle and looked at her face closely, seeing that she is indeed pale. Arielle couldn't help but smell he hard liquor smell coming from her mother, she started to become worried about how much she has drank tonight.

"I'm…. I'm okay, just not the greatest today," Arielle said as she looked down at her enclosed hands. What happened? She thought as she looked at her mom and gave her a weak, reassuring smile. I swore I saw someone on the balcony and then….

"If you say you are then be sure to get rest, I'll come check on you in a few hours to make sure the new pill you just took doesn't give you a reaction," her mother kissed the top of her head and walked out the door. Arielle frowned deeply and her worries became worse.

"I'm so tired of pills," Arielle stated herself as she threw up her hands in the air and plopped them back down on her lap. She looked around her room and thought back to what happened or what she thought had happened. Was it a dream? She thought as she crawled out of her bed and walked carefully to the balcony door. Her legs felt weak and she wasn't truly feeling well. She looked out the window and saw that the moon was a lot higher than she remembered and looked towards the balcony floor. The snow was completely fresh and didn't show any signs of foot tracks. That's so weird, she looked harder at the balcony to see if she could find any evidence, I swear I remember falling, but then how would I be in my bed? Surely mom would have found me and told me what happened, but she didn't.

Jack decided to move a greater distance and watched from on top of a tree branch as he saw her appear at the balcony door window and was looking outside with a complex expression on her face. Clearly she was confused, Jack proclaimed to himself. Maybe I should attempt seeing her again, I mean I was originally out to gain another believer and knowing what just happened, she probably needs someone to believe in as well.

Thunder seemed to crackle fiercely across the sky and onto the earth as the night rolled on in a land that was completely bare of life. The ground showed no sign of life and all the trees were bare of leaves. The weather was blistery of wind, rain, and thunder and showed no sign of stopping on its onslaught. The shadows moved and danced by the light the lightening was giving and gave the barren land a sense of movement besides the weather. In the middle of this land was a small cave that was big enough for a small child to walk into and lead deep into the dark pits of the earth. Voices could be heard through the echoes of the cave walls that gave the cave a horrifying existence and would make any person walk back out and accept the harsh weather. Further in a dim light could be seen as it gave a sense of hope, but as two shadows danced along the walls and voices rang louder, it would make anyone experience one thing; fear.

"Well it's been a long time since I've seen you in these parts," a deep raspy voice spoke, apparently male, as he walked about the cave in complete contentment. His black robe draped around him giving him an appearance of that of the supernatural, like a fleeting shadow. "Since the dark ages I believe."

"It has been long my friend," another voice spoke smoothly and was just as content as the figure he came to visit. "I will never forget what the dark ages were like for me, it was a great and wonderful time, and not just for me."

"No, it was a day at that age that could never be surpassed, people falling to my feet and their eyes becoming lost of light and life," the raspy voice bellowed out as he spread his arm toward the ceiling as he expressed his thoughts. "And that also brought you a great existence in your name, Pitch," he turned towards Pitch and saw him smiling thoughtfully.

"Fear, everyone was fearful when I was around, thanks to you," Pitch said, "I had a title and a horrifying legacy to live up to in those days." Pitch stopped walking and looked off into the distance. "Until…," Pitch was startled by the booming voice of the raspy figure that interrupted him.

"The Guardians came and ruined everything! Everything I have created and to be believed in was gone!" The hooded figure moved quickly towards a all familiar globe that showed lights, obviously that glowed for believing in the Guardians.

"I almost had every one of those lights out, until _one_ Guardians came and ruined everything," Pitch said as he followed the dark figure and looked at the globe. "I need your help again, Grim Reaper, or shall I say Grim."

The dark figure known as Grim turned towards Pitch, his eyes glowed red in the dark shadows of the black hood he wore and moved his skeleton hand out and formed an object that floated above his hand.

"We need to obtain two objects from a legendary Guardian if we are to end this long and tiresome battle with the Guardians," Grim stated as an hour glass formed from shadows floated and then switched to another object, the scythe. "The Hourglass of Time and the Scythe of Death, in which the scythe he took from me!"

"I still can't believe it was dream," Arielle stated as she walked back to her bed and sat at the end of it. It's been a half hour since she woke up and couldn't come up with anything. She suddenly heard the sound of something breaking downstairs and it sounded like glass. Here we go again, Arielle thought as she shook her head, her blonde air falling around her face as she looked at the ground. It's been five years, five years since dad died, Arielle thought with a sad fallen face as her eyes glossed more to the point of tears. With Arielle's head down, she didn't notice that someone was watching her outside. Jack peered carefully through the window, just to make sure if what he thinks is true, can't see him. Arielle stood up quickly with a surprise expression and turned towards the door when she heard her mother yell downstairs.

"How could you leave us?!" her mother screamed with anger and hints of sorrow. "Do you know what you have done to this family since you've been gone?!" Arielle heard this every day, as if her mother was actually screaming at him right now. Every time her mother yelled it made Arielle shrink back as if she was hit by a physical blow. Her mother's words were sluggish sounding and it made the fear inside her rise to the brink of panic. As Jack watched, he became worried, what was going on? He couldn't hear anything. Arielle knew her mother was becoming intoxicated when she came up to check on her, but when she became severely intoxicated she turned into a monster, a monster she couldn't hold back. Jack saw her run weakly towards a closet door and pushed back boxes that were in the way, not caring was contents spilled. She opened the door quickly and slammed it shut behind her.

"What's going on?" Jack thought with worry and confusion on his face, as his concerns about being caught were pushed aside he opened the window quietly and hopped into the room. He understood why she ran. Before he could react, Arielle's bedroom door slammed open and the intoxicated mother came sluggishly in. She was a total mess. Her tear streaked face was more sunken than before, eyes were completely bloodshot, and her stance made her look like she could fall over at any given time.

"Where are you you little mongrel," Jack noted that her speech was as sluggish as her stance. Jack was at a complete lost, since obviously her mother can't see him and he didn't know what was going to happen. He has seen intoxicated people in his life time, but this is the worst case he's ever seen or heard. He saw the mother move her head towards the closet and slowly made her way to the door, almost falling sideways while making her way through.

"I know you're hiding in there you ungrateful, sick child!" She slammed open the door and saw Arielle crouched down on her knees and hands protecting her head. She knew what was going to happen.

"Mom, I know this isn't your fault and you are suffering so-" Arielle was trying to calm her mother down while protecting herself, but it wasn't going to work for her since her mother was consciously far from reach. Arielle felt the first blow to the arm from her mother's fist.

"That's right, it's your fault that he's dead!" a snarl ripped through her lips as her fists became harder and her punches became more sluggish and missing Arielle's body and hitting the wall every so often.

Jack couldn't take it much longer, he wasn't expecting a mother to hit her daughter. Especially after seeing how those two were a half an hour ago. Even though he isn't allowed to hurt humans in any way, he had to stop this before it got worse. He needed to save her. He was quick with his work as he moved behind the mother and formed a snowball that was solid ice. He began to make his aim as he saw the mother still trying to beat her daughter and with a flash of sadness inside he flung his snowball. With great skill the snowball struck her head and saw the mother crumble over her daughter. He didn't hit her hard to cause physical damage, but enough to knock her out and save the girl from any more beatings.

All Arielle could feel was punch after punch and she couldn't do anything about it, she kept praying she will stop and leave her alone. Before she knew it and punches stopped and she felt a heavy weight land on her. Arielle pushed herself up with surprise and was confused as to what happened. She saw her mother was completely immobile on her lap and looked to be unconscious, her breathing deep and slow. Before she went to remove her mother carefully from her lap she looked up and saw a stranger standing in front of her. A very odd looking stranger with white hair and holding a staff. Her eyes were wide open and the realization hit her suddenly.

"It's you."

The winding stairs of the tower seemed to be endless, no matter how many times he's climbed them. His boots landed heavily on each step, until he finally came to a door that was slightly open. At this, he smiled and thanked Man in the Moon that he's finally back. When he pushed the door open he saw a familiar sight in front of him, who was working busily on the large, old style clocks that were on the wall. His long, gray hair flowed behind him gracefully as he turned his attention to another clock and seemed very anxious when he turned his attention to who was at his door.

"North," the man proclaimed as he smiled softly behind his beard, his light blue eyes also smiling.

"It's about time you came back Father Time!" North said as he walked up to him and clasped both his hands around his to greet each other.

"It's been a long time my old friend, since the dark ages, correct?" Father asked as he gestured him to sit in a chair. Father went back to his clocks and made a few adjustments before asking North a question.

"I believe you are here to see me because I was gone for a while, correct?" Father asked.

"Yes, I was worried that something has happened to you or that something was going on with the world, but I see everything is okay,"North said as he relaxed in his chair. The fight to get to Father's tower was very tiring. More so difficult than it used to be.

"Sadly, you are wrong my friend," Father turned towards him with an expression that made North sit up and moved out of his chair.

"What has happened?" North asked urgently as he walked towards Father for a clear explanation.

"It's Grim and he's teaming up with someone to wreak havoc on the earth once again." North's face downfallen with shock as he backed up a few steps. He couldn't believe it. Grim hasn't been heard from or seen since he became a Guardian.

"Do you know who Grim has working for him?" North asked as soon as he collected himself again. Wondering who that someone is.

"No, the only way I know it is Grim is because I felt a life disturbance in my hourglass. I left to see what has happened and soon discovered that Grim is back. I left quietly without making myself known and I'm afraid he's up to something horrible again."

"But surely he can't do much, since you took the scythe away from him he can't do as much harm as he did before," North proclaimed, but once again his gut knew better than his mind.

"If he is back and plotting something with this new partner of his, he's going to be coming after me because he knows he can't do what he wants without the scythe. He can easily penetrate through my forces and since he's back, his powers are slowly returning to normal. That's why it is difficult to get to his tower, Father made it difficult for Grim.

"What do you think we should do?" North asked with seriousness and determination in his tone.

"We must team up and protect the world from what he's scheming, the Man in the Moon sent me a message through the window and stated that all the Guardians must come together and stop Grim."


	5. Chapter 5

The time had flown by so fast, North didn't realize that it was early morning when he and Father were casually talking amongst themselves about what to prepare and how to go about the rearrangements for each Guardian. They knew that Grims appearance on the surface was bad news, but they didn't know what Grim was planning, but they both knew that Grim might be planning to eliminate any forces that would go against him. In this case the Guardians and the Legendary Guardians. The only powers that Grim has, without his major weapon, is the touch of his fingers. The scythe took away life completely, but with just his touch he can drain the life force of a living creature and gain power slowly.

"My guess is that he will be going throughout the earth to drain the life force of living things and that can be hard to trace, because he is not draining them completely and my hourglass can't detect that. Since life can be drained and returned easily to normal it's unpredictable," Father stated as he sat across from North. Father was peering down at his very large coffee mug in deep thought, thinking of all the possibilities that Grim could go about eliminating them. Then another important thought entered his mind and he realized that there could be another way to pinpoint where the life is being drained and figure out Grims location. They knew that they couldn't go to his hide out because of the barrier that Grim put there. It was way too strong. North watched him as he too was pondering every possibility. He saw Father's bright eyes open widely and looked into North's deep ice blue eyes.

"No, there is another way, I forgot about our other dearest Legendary Guardian!" Father said as he shot out of his chair that fell behind him. North was taken back in surprise and held his coffee mug tighter as if he felt a blow, diffidently Father's voice could take down a house. He watched Father walk over to a table that contained devices of possible mechanical use to run some of his equipment. He returned and laid down a metal device on the table that was shaped like a pink flower with a bright yellow gem in the middle.

"Mother Nature's device to contact her," Father said as he looked up at North's face which was slowly becoming surprised. Of course! Mother Nature controls the weather and earth life!

"My goodness Father! I forgot all about Nature, I haven't heard from her since I've become a Guardian. How is she?" North asked as he picked up her device and looked at it in wonder. When North didn't get an answer right away, he looked up at Father and noticed his back was turned towards him, shoulders slumped down, head extended down. North was greatly confused. What happened? He thought as he got up from his seat. When he got in front of Father, he noticed that he was greatly sadden and deep in thought. He didn't even move when North got in front of him.

"What happened Father? What happened to Nature?" North asked. He saw a response from Father eyes as he looked at North with sadden in them.

"Nothing has happened to Nature, but she won't contact me, no matter how many times I've contacted her throughout the centuries. She gave me this device back, she said she wouldn't need it"

"Why?" Even though North asked, he was slowly understanding what was actually going on, but it's been so long ago that he thought the two of them were over it. Father saw the look in North's eyes and nodded slowly to confirm North's thoughts, as if reading his mind.

"Sadly, she's not over it North, but maybe this time we can actually get her to open up to help us again. Since her world is in danger too," Father put a hand on North's shoulder and turned him to guide him to the table he obtained Nature's device from. North noticed three more devices on the table and knew who they were for. One was shaped as a colorful egg with a bright green gem in the middle, another was shaped like a white tooth with a teal gem in the middle, and the last one was shaped like a yellow cloud with a gold gem in the middle.

"I was meaning to present these gifts to the other Guardians, so they will have a way of contacting anyone they want in case something happens, like the one I gave you," Father explained as he picked up each item and placed them inside a small, gray velvet bag and gave them to North. North put his hand into his right pocket and brought his device out to show Father a Candy Cane shaped device with a red gem in the middle.

"I was trying to contact you with this earlier, but you didn't respond," North said with a slight accusing voice. If you made a device to contact people with, what's the point when they don't respond?

"I'm so sorry my friend, my device is broken and I have been meaning to repair it when I got back to the tower," Father explained as he too reached into his pocket and a gray clock shaped device with a white gem in the middle was shown to North. The gem was cracked with some pieces missing and there were a few dents in the metal.

"What did you do to have it that banged up so badly?" Norths' eyes widen as he observed the broken device.

"Believe it or not, I was in such a hurry to see what has happened to the earth that I trip on my robe and fell down the stairs and quite a few steps too!" Father being reminded of the fall reached behind his back and rubbed his fingers on his lower back. Diffidently bruised!

"You might want to invest in an elevator, they are safe and less exhausting!" North and Father laughed together heartily as tears began to peek from the sides of their eyes. After straightening up, North clasped Father's hands into his and looked at him seriously.

"I will go back and have a meeting with the other Guardians, I will let you know soon, my friend, of the plan," North looked at the bags and noticed something was off. Father forgot one! Father looked at him and saw the confusion on his bearded face.

"What's wrong, North?"

"You haven't met our newest Guardian have you?" North saw Father's expression turn very excited, almost like he could jump for joy.

"We have another member? My goodness, I must meet this new Guardian!" North saw Father run to his coat hanger and grabbed his deep gray robe that had silver designs stitched on them.

"You want to go now? You just got back" North was worried from the time that Father's been gone from the clocks and he wants to leave again? He saw Father turn towards his devices and chanted a spell, soon a silver swirl of a magical glitter appearance appeared in Father's hand and flowed throughout the room and made the devices glow.

"We can go now, my magic will run the clocks for a few hours and can't be disturbed."

What just happened? Arielle couldn't believe the events of the day. First her fall off the railing and somehow waking up in her bed, to her mother's drunken rage, and now there was a strange boy standing in her room. As she started to stare at the boy and take in his features; gray hair that shimmered white, bright blue eyes that was deeply expressed with concern, a blue hoodie with tattered brown pants that were tied up with some sort of string, completely barefoot, and was holding a staff made of wood. After taking in the appearances, her mind triggered instantly as the flashbacks of what happened on the balcony came back. First she heard a voice and it scared her as she spun around and suddenly lost her footing. As her shocked eyes locked in on ice blue ones before she fell over she passed out.

"It's you."

Jack stood where he was as he observed her. Looking into her deep entranced brown eyes he noticed that she was also peering into his own blue eyes. He jumped slightly when she spoke out to him. It's you? He repeated her question to himself. He moved slightly towards her and saw her respond as she shuffled to move her mother carefully to the side.

"Please don't hurt us!" She called out, fear in her voice as she looked at him. She didn't know who he was, but he knocked out her mother and she wasn't sure what he was going to do next. Since they were the only ones in the house with no close neighbors to run to, she didn't know what she was going to do to fend off this intruder.

"Whoa! Easy there kiddo, I'm not here to hurt you," Jack explained as he backed up a few steps, wanting her to know that he wasn't going to come near her unless she wanted him to. Arielle was able to remove her mother off her gently and began to stand up slowly, still keeping her eyes locked on this stranger before her.

"What did you do to my mother?" She could hardly believe this guy, "Not here to hurt you?" He clearly did something to her.

"I knocked her out with a snow ball made of ice, I saw… ," he started to explain his actions, but felt bad about bringing up what just happened to her, "… I saw her hitting you, over and over…" his expression started to downfall into a deep sadness and tried to finish. As he was trying to explain, Arielle was completely engulfed by his expression, he clearly wasn't making this up and was deeply disturbed about it.

"I couldn't stand by and watch, so I knocked her out with a snowball!" His eyes were squeezed shut as he moved his head towards the side as he yelled out the last part. He felt horrible having to hurt a child's parent, he never wanted to do that, but he had no choice. She was being hurt. When he opened his eyes and turned his head back up to her, afraid that he would scare her away. He saw the complete opposite. Standing a few feet away from her he looked into those deep brown eyes of hers and saw happiness in them, tears started to cover her eyes and threaten to fall down her pale cheeks. Her smile was what caught his attention the most, he thought before that she was beautiful when she was outside, looking at the moon, but this smile made her look stunning. No words could describe how he felt at that moment.

"Thank you," she whispered as she raised her hand and quickly tried to wipe away the tears. When she straightened up and cleared her mind, she couldn't help but wonder, snowballs?

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you use a snowball of all things," Jack was taken back by the question, he forgot that she might not understand who he really is. Even though she clearly and obviously believes in him, he started to explain carefully.

"Well, I couldn't use any other object, because your mom can't see me," he started and saw the confusion flash in her eyes instantly. Great, now she's going to think I'm crazy, Jack thought.

"Can't see you?" She repeated him in question.

"Well, she doesn't believe in me to see me, because I'm Jack Frost," he decided to get to the point, he need to clear her confusion before he loses her trust.

"Jack Frost?" She said to herself. Jack Frost like in the stories that she has read? As she thought more about it, she couldn't help but try to hold back her smile and then fought to hold back her laughter. Jack couldn't help but smile. Her smile is radiant and so is her laugh!

"Jack Frost you say, _thee_ Jack Overland Frost?" She looked at him and began to laugh a little more. Jack couldn't help but grin at her, clearly she thinks that she doesn't believe in him, in that sense any ways.

"Well, mister Jack Frost," she started to say as she made her grinning self walk towards Jack. Jacks grin slowly started to turn into a suspicious smile. What is she going to do to him?

"There is a few away you could prove it and the first being…,"she got near him and within arms reach, she moved her hand towards his face and Jack couldn't help but stare at her hand getting near his cheek. He couldn't believe he was letting her touch him! Soon he felt her warm hand rest softly against his cheek. It felt good. But as soon as her hand touched his cheek is quickly left. With a shocked expression gracing her face, the hand that touched his cheek in her other hand, as if it got burnt, she couldn't believe how cold his face was.

"Your cold…," She stated as she looked into his blue eyes, wondering if he was going to explain. Jack broke into his famous side-ways grin.

"Well, that was one way of proving that I'm _thee_ Jack Overland Frost," he started towards her door window and she followed him with her eyes, still in shock and disbelief. She saw him push the door open and gestured her to follow. Arielle couldn't help but look back at her mother, still passed out on the floor, but sleeping nonetheless. She turned back and saw Jack was waiting patiently and she started to walk towards him. She saw her boots and coat by the door and put them on quickly as she followed him out on her balcony.

"If you trust me enough to letting me do this, how would you like to go for a ride on the wind?" He asked as he twirled his staff with skill and looked at her carefully. Ride the wind? She thought with great confusion. As she was thinking back to her fall, clearly Jack had saved her and brought her back up to her room without going through the front door. That would have alerted her mother. Maybe, just maybe…

"Jack Frost, I trust you and yes I would love to… ride the wind," she couldn't help but put up a brave face, she has never flown before and not like this. She started to doubt herself after her brave talk when all of a sudden he was right next to her side, she suddenly felt an arm around her waist and she looked up at him very startled.

"Hold on to me tightly with both arms," he instructed. She moved one arm around his back and held onto his waist and her other around his chest and onto his shoulder, gripping tightly on his hoodie.

"Alright, now don't let go and hold on tight!"

Father couldn't believe what he was seeing, it's been years since he's step foot into North's home. He remembered as if it were yesterday what North's home looked like; it was just a small wooden home with a large stoned fireplace with a huge wooden shed in the back yard. Norths sense of taste in terms of décor and also the structure of his home has changed over the centuries. With North leading the way through the busy halls, taking note of all North's companions that help him make the factory work and also help with making the toys. The elves didn't change one bit! Father thought as he saw three elves once again playing around foolishly with a toy that wasn't working right. They both strolled out to the center of the factory and took in all the wonder that North created. Levels upon levels of rooms and hall and working stations. The Yetis busy at each station working on individual toys while the elves ran loose, creating mischief.

"Well, I can see you have improved many things since I've last been here," Father stated as he picked up a odd looking toy and observed it's features. "And also upgrade."

"Yes, well, when you have many children that believe in me, you have to put a lot of effort and time into everything to keep the children happy," North laughed deeply as he thought back at the previous Christmas.

"I have very few believer, but I wasn't made a Guardians to do what you guys do best," Father started to looked over the balcony and saw more wonders below and above him. "I have to admit, I'm a little jealous."

"What do you mean jealous? I'm sometimes jealous of you too Father! You're not controlling millions of elves that mess up your factory everywhere you go and have to bribe the Yetis with cookies to push themselves to make it to the dead line!" North put a heavy pat on Father's shoulders and couldn't help but laugh. Father knew he was half joking about them being a nuisance, North cared about every single one of them. What could North do by himself without such help?

"I guess you have a point, I would have to put a time stop spell on everything just to get them to listen, huh?" Father looked at North and smiled a genuine smile as he joked with North, but his eyes still stated that he was sad. North could understand; Father being alone working on the clocks and times all day with no one around to talk to. But then it used to not be like that for Father, when Nature was around… But he won't bring that up again.

"Well, if you follow me I'll show you my favorite device!" North started walking towards the table that contained a handle. Father looked up at the same shining globe that he had and smiled. The children really do love these Guardians. Father saw North grab he handle with pride, turned it and pressed down.

"And now we wait!"

Arielle didn't even have time to even say, "Please fly slow." She felt like she was shot from a cannon, flying aimlessly through the night sky. She was looking ahead to where Jack was going, almost forgetting that she was holding on to Jack tightly or even aware that he was there. She was in her own world at the moment. Taking in the scene that was all around her. She looked at the billowy clouds rushing around them, the stars that displayed brightly and so magically in space. She looked down and ahead to see the town of Plainsfields with it's remaining lights that showed that a lot of people live there. It was late at night, so there weren't a lot of lights on. She looked further down and saw her home, from the ground it looked to be same ol', same ol', but from above it gave a different life to it. With the lights still on it looked mysterious being in the woods with no surrounding homes like the ones in Plainfields. The home was standing alone, in the dark woods with the lights and the moon giving it life.

"Well, it looks like you are enjoying yourself," Jack said to her. Arielle snapped out of her wonderment and looked up at Jack for the first since they've been in the air. She couldn't help but smile, a genuine smile again.

"This is the first time I've ever flown! Well, never thought of flying like this any ways," she took note at how tight she was up against him, arms around him to keep herself from falling. She couldn't help but blush, she's never been this close to a guy before. Well, never been close to an immortal being that could fly and it being Jack Frost!

"Now do you believe that I am Jack Frost?"

"You better believe it!" She started to view the scene around her again as he was about to fly towards Plainfields. But another sight up ahead started to appear and caught his attention as well as hers.

"Wow! Look at the Northern lights, I didn't know they were supposed to appear tonight," she looked at the beautiful colors that floated across the sky, completely entranced by them. Jack, not so much since he knew very well what they were. Jack went to address her and realized that he never asked for her name.

"You know what, I don't know what your name is?" Jack's voice broke Arielle out of her trance again and looked up at him surprised.

"Oh, geez, I'm sorry. Here you told me your name and I never introduced myself!" Arielle couldn't help but tuck her head down toward his chest in embarrassment before looking up again. The way Jack looked at her was very friendly and was waiting patiently for her to reply.

"My name is Arielle," Jack couldn't help but feel a jolt in his stomach, the name rang beautifully in his ears, _Arielle_, such a unique name and it seemed to suit her well. Arielle noted the smile that graced his lips, he seemed really happy to know who she was. She couldn't help but feel the same way, _Jack Frost_, even though she knew him in books, to see him personally she can see that that name suited him very well.

Jack once again noticed the Northern lights again and felt defiant to stay here and get to know Arielle more, but he wasn't for sure if it was serious or not and since the meeting, it has put Jack on edge. He looked down at her house and started to slowly fly back. Arielle felt the drop in her stomach and gripped Jack more, he couldn't help but laugh lightly.

"You get used to it after a while," he stated. Once they landed softly on the balcony Arielle unwrapped her arms around Jack and started to feel the muscles in her upper arms hurt lightly. She rotated her arms around in circles to get them stretched out. Once again Jack laughed at her and she couldn't help but snicker back at him. She looked back at her balcony door and turned to Jack with alarm on her face. Jack too became alarm and strided across the balcony to see what was wrong.

"Is there anyway I could ask for a favor, Jack," she asked urgently. Jack nodded at her. "Could you help me get my mother to her bed, I'm afraid I'm too weak to try and carry her to her room." Jack gladly agreed to help and started towards the door. He opened it and she followed after and they both teamed up to carry Arielle's mother safely to her room. With some struggles they made it to her room and laid her gently on the bed and Arielle covered her up with the comforter blanket. She stayed by her bed for a moment and looked at Jack as sadness covering her facial features. Jack too felt what she was feeling and was sad to see that look on her face after seeing her smile radiantly a moment ago.

"You know, she was never like this before." She started to say, "Once my father passed away a few years ago, my mother felt like she lost everything." Jack walked up to Arielle and put a hand on her shoulder, to let her know that he was there.

"She didn't lose you though, that should be something in her life to let her know that she hasn't lost everything," Jack didn't know the whole story as to why her mother did what she did, but he wanted to help.

"It's true, she has me and there are days that she reminds me that she loves me greatly and would try everything in her power to help me, to help us." All of a sudden Arielle started to cough and Jack started to pat her back lightly, but realize that her cough was getting worse. Before he knew it Arielle shot from her mother's bed and ran to her room as fast as she was able to go and went to her night stand. Jack running closely behind saw her going for her water bottle, uncapping it, and taking a large swig. Her hands fumbled along the nightstand and quickly found the bottle she was looking for, uncapped it, and took out two pill. She threw them in her mouth and swallowed and caught her breathe with small coughs here and there. Jack, watching the scene, wanted to ask what was wrong with her to be taking so many pills. Until his attention caught at the Northern lights again, he had to go.

"Are you going to be okay?" Jack asked concerned. Once she caught her breath she turned to him and smiled.

"Yeah, I'll be alright, these coughing fits happen every now and then," she took notice that Jack was becoming fidgety and was also concern as he looked at her, she had a feeling that their time together was going to end.

"Well, I'm glad that I have a new believer on my side, but sadly Arielle, I have to go now," he wanted to explain his reasons for leaving, but he was already late in leaving and knew Sandy might be after him right now and whip in hand!

"I knew you had to at some point, but Jack?" She started to ask as she walked towards him, Jack watched her closely and saw the urgency in her eyes. "Will you... come back to see me again?"

Will you come back to see me again, Jack repeated her words in his head. That was a silly question! He looked at her and gave his signature smile.

"Of course I will Arielle, as long as you keep believing in me I will always be here!" Jack then started to run towards the door and open it, taking graceful strides in his step along the balcony he called the wind. Arielle came running out and started to wave good-bye with a bright smile on her face.

"See you later Jack!" With those last words ringing in his ears, he couldn't help but laugh out loud with pure happiness in his heart.

"Where is that Frost?" Bunnymund yelled as he hopped over to North's device on the table. Bunnymund was about to grab the handle and push it down again until North came and grabbed him by the shoulders, turned him around in the other direction and laughed out.

"What's wrong Bunny? Can't stand being around us?" North's booming laugh reached everyones ears. "I'm sure Jack is on his way, if he's not here in five minutes I'll have Sandy go out and search for him." Sandy flew over to Bunnymund and gave him the thumbs up that he would do it. Bunnymund rolled his eyes as he once again pulled out an egg and started painting it. He didn't have time to be called to North's place twice a week! Easter is slowly gaining on him, he thought.

"I see that no one has changed much since we've first met, glad to see you all again!" Father said as he strode up to Bunnymund and looked at the wild colors on the egg. "It seems your skills at painting eggs have improved immensely Bunny!" Bunnymund couldn't help but look at Father with smiling pride as he started to explain all the work that goes into each egg and also the time. Tooth came behind North and Sandy, giggling as they watched the two engage in conversation.

"Father is the right guy to engage in conversation, especially when it's about someone else's work and how they do it," Tooth stated. North laughed lightly and Sandy smiled as a smily face appeared above his head.

"Bunnymund should learn from Father," North said and suddenly a voice called out, "I heard that North!" They group all started laughing.

Suddenly cold wind started to come through the window and everyone turned and saw the one person everyone was waiting for.

"About time Jack Frost!"


End file.
